Retaining fee

UK Fire and Rescue Services are experiencing a crisis in relation to the recruitment of Retained Duty System (RDS) firefighters. Poor public sector pay rises have served to exacerbate the problems with recruitment and retention.

Conference recognises the levels of commitment demanded from RDS firefighters by the Fire Service employers has increased substantially since 2003, including increases in training and pressure to give more hours of cover, along with increased administrative work.

Conference affirms that the current retaining fee falls far short of adequately compensating our RDS Members for the commitment they make and instructs our negotiators to make achieving a substantial increase in the current Grey Book retaining fee a priority in order to better reflect the levels of commitment required.